


i hold my universe in both hands

by cryystal_m00n



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Fluff, Like the smallest amount of angst, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Prom, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 06:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19043476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryystal_m00n/pseuds/cryystal_m00n
Summary: even with a clouded mind, jeno is afraid of the consequences.





	i hold my universe in both hands

**Author's Note:**

> i had my prom yesterday so obvs i had to write my experience down (spoiler, i didnt nearly get two boyfriends, but i did get high and got emo)   
> i dont know what else to say besides enjoy? leave comments telling me if you got emo during prom too? dont come for my neck for not putting sunflowers on hyucks suit? idk

jeno never thought that he will attend prom. yes, he dreamed of it while watching high school musical in elementary school, but he also dreamed of breaking into songs and choreos with his schoolmates in between classes. so really, his 12 years-old dreams shouldn’t be taken for granted. 

yet here he is. dressed in his baby blue suit, struggling to tie a simple knot on his equally blue tie. wikihow has failed him once more. 

he gives up after the fifth try, folding it neatly and setting it on the desk next to him. he unbuttons the first two buttons, smoothing his shirt down. he buttons them back after taking a closer look. 

honestly, he doesn’t know why he’s nervous. it’s just prom, just a simple dance party for them to celebrate the fact that they survived twelve years of school without dying. it’s just a party where he will stay with his friends and (maybe) watch mark and donghyuck bicker over who gets the last cupcake. it’s just a party where he will try to have fun. 

and with that in mind, he takes the blazer off the back of his chair, makes sure he didn’t forget his phone again and left his room, running down the stairs when he hears the familiar honk outside. 

he kisses his mom goodbye, not without promising her to take photos of him and her other sons, as she likes to call his friends, pets the cats goodbye too and then he’s throwing the front door open, only to find mark’s car, an ugly and old toyota pick-up, waiting for him. 

chenle and jisung are already in the truck, waving excitedly at him, and not a second later yangyang steps out of the car, to join the younger boys in the truck too. he stops right before climbing inside, his eyes widening as he inspects jeno. 

“oh my god!” he yells in english, “you’re bubbles!” 

jeno nods slightly, scratching the back of his neck. he didn’t think people would catch onto their little game. well, really, it was jaemin that came up with the idea to go as the powerpuff girls, and jeno and renjun are just too weak to tell the younger no. 

“shut it before i don’t call kun-hyung on you, yang,” he threatens, hand resting on the door and holding it open. 

yangyang gasps, but zips his mouth shut, choosing instead to tackle chenle in a hug. this gives jeno the opportunity to slip inside the car, right next to jaemin in the backseat. jaemin quickly puts his arm around him, making him lean closer to the pink haired boy. he still can’t believe how dedicated jaemin is to his idea. 

“look who finally decided to join us,” donghyuck says from the front seat, turning to look at the three boys. he looks gorgeous in his yellow suit, his freshly dyed silver hair bouncing with every move. “you look great nono, blue suits you well.” he smiles at jeno, his sparkly make-up blinding him even more than his grin. 

“thanks, hyuck. but nana chose this so it’s his fault,” jeno laughs nervously, trying to hide in jaemin’s pink jacket. 

donghyuck just laughs along with jaemin, before turning back to his loud singing. jeno can recognize the song as something from abba, but he can’t put a name to it. 

he feels a hand pulling on his sleeve gently, and when he looks up, renjun and jaemin both smile at him, their action making jeno blush. he’s not sure why he is so close to their faces, or really, when renjun got closer to his, but he won’t protest on it. 

“you really look amazing, jeno,” renjun whispers, his breath hitting the side of his face. it smells like the disgusting fruity gum he likes to chew on, but jeno still finds himself smiling back, albeit a bit shy. 

“t-thanks, junnie. you look… very green.”

both of the boys next to him laugh, renjun pushing his hair back. it’s back to being black, obviously jaemin’s idea as well, but that doesn’t change what he just said. renjun  _ is  _ wearing the greenest suit jeno’s ever seen, a color the younger never thought would look good on his best friend, yet now he knows that the chinese can own any and every color, including the forest green of his outfit. 

“and what about me, jeno? do i look pink too?” jaemin whines, poking jeno’s cheek with his index. 

jeno blushes even more, cursing himself for not being able to compliment his best friends without looking like a fool. he swallows hard, before saying: “you both look very…” the boys quirk an eyebrow, waiting for the continuation. “pretty.”

they break out in giant similar grins. “well, you’re the prettiest out of us, jeno,” jaemin says, just as donghyuck gags, throwing a pack of tictacs at them. 

“stop being gay, it’s gross.”

renjun scoffs, throwing the pack back. “you’re holding hands hit mark and you whine everytime he has to turn the wheel with both hands, so you stop being gay, idiot.”

donghyuck flips him off, not bothering to look at renjun. the older rolls his eyes fondly, leaning in to bite his finger. the silver haired boy isn’t even phased anymore, just uses his other hand to pet renjun’s head twice.

someone, jeno judges it’s yangyang by the force of it, pounds on the roof of the car, making mark open the window the next time they’re at a red light. 

“what do you want, yang?” mark yells, his head sticking out the window comically. 

“drive faster, markles!” 

mark just sighs and rolls the window back up, leaving an angry yangyang shout profanities at him in german. or, jeno thinks they’re curses, he’s never sure, when he’s speaking in german. 

still, mark does drive faster after yangyang’s input, making them arrive at their high school less than five minutes later. and then, a few seconds after mark stops the car, everyone but him is out, whining about the eldest’s driving skills. 

“when y’all are gonna get your driving license instead of begging me to drive you around then y’all can get to whine. till then, shut up,” mark says, locking the car and walking next to donghyuck. we’ll meet half an hour later near the bleachers. be there or be square.”

mark doesn’t get to finish his already infamous speech, before donghyuck drags him inside the gym, the younger talking loudly about how he wants to have at least one dance with his boyfriend. jeno looks at how mark just nods along to donghyuck’s antics. 

chenle and jisung follow them suit, telling the older boys something about wanting to monopolize the photobooth and make it so that all the photos turn out to be pictures of danny devito. no one questions them. 

yangyang pulls his jean jacket closer, the numerous pins glistening in the street lights. “i gotta take some pics for the hets too, so ill see you around, ok? i mean, until we have to meet with markles.”

renjun sighs. “stop calling your boyfriends hets, yang,” he says, rubbing his temples. 

“they chose to not come to prom because of a stupid ass gay rat wedding! they’re not my boyfriends anymore!” yangyang says, playing with the two pins on his collar. the g and d pins look like they’re ready to fall out, but jeno knows the younger’s habit of playing with them when nervous. 

jaemin sighs too. “they didn’t come because of exams, dude. let your college boyfriends be miserable and study.”

yangyang pouts, looking down at his feet. renjun grabs his wrist, dragging him towards the building. “let’s get your photos, idiot.”

jaemin links his and jeno’s arms together, looking at the elder’s face. “you ready to show everyone how to party, honeypie?”  _ ah, there it is. _

“stop with those stupid pet names, nana,” jeno mumbles, turning his head slightly to hide his blush yet again. 

“never, sweetpea,” jaemin says as he boops jeno’s nose, well, its side. “now, c’mon, pretty. i wanna see mark twerking.”

jeno lets himself be pulled inside. 

time seems to pass in a blur. he dances and dances and  _ loses  _ himself in the music, the lights, the people around him. but most importantly, he loses himself in the way jaemin and renjun both keep him close,  _ always  _ touching him, as if the brunette could get lost in form too, not just soul. 

it’s stupid, but it makes him feel safe. 

he’s not sure if the thirty minutes passed or not, but when jaemin leans in to whisper in his ear that it’s time, he’s quick to go after him and renjun. the boys head over to the bleachers, where over the course of four years, they’ve spent most of their time. from donghyuck and jeno hiding under it when they dyed mark’s hair neon green, to the time when they found a sleeping renjun laying on the fake grass. it’s where they formed friendships, where they cried over low grades and broken hearts, where they got their hearts fixed. 

they’re the last to arrive, the others already settled on the ground. jaemin plops down in donghyuck’s lap, earning himself a loud gasp from the boy, who despite telling jaemin to  _ get his fat ass off him,  _ he doesn’t actually push him off. 

jeno is the last to sit down, and as soon as he crosses his legs, renjun moves to his lap, jaemin moving to sit next to him too. the younger pulls jeno’s arm so that it’s draped across his shoulders. 

seconds after they’re all seated, yangyang documenting everything for his boyfriends, mark pulls out the joints promised to them by his older brother. johnny wanted them to have one last night of this on the school grounds. 

the eldest points at chenle and jisung, his serious tone on. “two drags. max. that’s what johnny said.” they whine, but one show of taeyong and kun’s number already dialing on mark’s and renjun’s phone shuts them up.

“all of you too. i don’t want to have to carry your high asses home because you can’t walk, understood?”

the boys nod, donghyuck already making grabby hands at his boyfriend. mark ignores him, lighting one up and giving it to renjun, while doing the same for yangyang. only after that, he lights one for his pouty boyfriend too. 

weed is something jeno doesn’t have that often. he does prefer drinking over smoking, but every once in a while, if his friends are with him, he would indulge in it. it doesn’t take long for him to remember why he rarely smokes it. 

he’s barely had three drags, way less than jisung and chenle, when his head starts spinning. it’s not unpleasant, by any means, but it still makes him sick when he sees the blotches of colorful suits move around him. 

however, despite his eyes and head hurting, whenever he sees the light pink or deep, emerald green, he feels a sudden rush of calmness. he doesn’t understand why, at least not until he feels renjun move, the older boy manhandling jeno until the brunette is the one laying across both his and jaemin’s lap, his vision filled of pinks and greens. 

“you’re such a dumbass, tater tot,” renjun sighs, beginning to pet jeno’s hair, brushing it off his sweaty forehead. 

jeno just nuzzles in the elder’s thigh, mumbling something about stopping with the pet names. just like jaemin, renjun shoots back with another one. 

even in his dazed mind, he doesn’t know what this means. he doesn’t know what  _ they  _ mean. what they will mean after all of this is ending. he’s just… confused by his feelings, his thoughts, his future,  _ their _ future. 

“what are we?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper. he doesn’t think they heard him, but when the grip on his hand tightens, he knows they did. at least jaemin did. 

“whatever you want us to be, honeypie.”

“if i say… if i say… that i’m not sure yet?”

renjun’s hand strokes his cheek, jeno looking up at him, regretting it when he sees the flash of disappointment in his eyes. the older still smiles, the previous look replaced by… something else. what, jeno isn’t sure. 

“then we will wait for you to tell us,” he says, jaemin joining him with a simple, but meaningful nod. 

jeno closes his eyes, turning his head so that he can hide his face in renjun’s shirt, trying, but to no avail to wrap his arms around both of their bodies. he manages only to hit jaemin. that doesn’t stop  _ them  _ to wrap their arms around him, however uncomfortable the position. 

“night, junnie. night, nana,” he says, snuggling closer to the warmth. “i love you.”

he feels two different pairs of lips, both on his hand, both on his ring finger, before he is out. 

 

(despite his threats, mark did end up carrying them all to the car, and later on to their houses. but really, he couldn’t be mad at any of them, not when his heart grew ten folds at the sight of his stupid friends trying to stay awake. and clearly not when his sun pulled closer his gray and red suit jacket, mark himself smiling down at the yellow one, resting on his shoulders.)

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/cryystal_moon)   
>  [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/cryystal_moon)


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